Toxic
synthetic pesticides applied inside your home or outside
your home and on the structure produce gaseous emissions.
Winter months create a bigger problem as the pesticide
gases become more abundant due to heat inside your home,
heated air and surfaces, and long periods with closed
windows and doors. Pesticides produce gases all year round
as they decay. However, when in confined spaces with pesticide
gases, the potential health risks increase as we factually
reference later in this report.

In a process called volatilization, liquid, solid, gel
or powdered pesticides may change form based on environmental
factors such as temperature, humidity, and/or aging of
the ingredients. Volatilization happens around us all
the time. Decaying matter in your compost pile produces
methane gas due to microbial activity; boiling water on
your stove produces steam, and pesticides volatize due
to probable attachment to molecules of other substances
such as wood, paints, varnish finishes, temperature, humidity,
and carpet fiber degradation, or due to breakdown and/or
molecular separation from a decaying active ingredient
with a short half life.

In the current body of research codified by the National
Pesticide Telecommunications Network sponsored by Oregon
State University and the EPA, only the active ingredient
warranted merit. The results were inconclusive in the
absence of the synergists and inert ingredients. As we
have copiously discussed throughout this website, the
active ingredient is potentially the least harmful of
the ingredients in toxic pesticides. Although active ingredients
such as Bifenthrin are suspected carcinogens and endocrine
disruptors, it is the suspected combination of Bifenthrin
and arsenic or other toxic compounds that produce the
most toxic gas.

The respiratory tract is the first organ to come in contact
with pesticide fumes. The respiratory system is important
in distributing inhaled pesticides because toxic gases
that enter the lungs can be readily absorbed by the blood
and distributed throughout the entire body. Pesticide
gases may exert system toxicity (multiple organ toxicity)
or be toxic to a specific organ. The health status of
an individual affects the response to inhaled pesticides.

How Serious is the pesticide gas and indoor home air
quality problem?
Over 75% of homes in the U.S. that were built prior to
March 1988 are contaminated by chlordane insecticide gases.
The gas levels in up to 7% of these homes is considered
"High" according to Wayne Sinclair, M.D. Chlordane is
a powerful synthetic insecticide and known carcinogen
banned by the EPA in 1988 after 40 years of indiscriminate
use on crops, buildings, and homes. According to a U.S.
Air Force study, chlordane is linked to many health problems
after short and long-term exposure.

Chlordane use was so widespread and uncontrolled by authorities,
that no regulatory body considered the damaging health
effects of chlordane nor allocated research money to biologists
concerned about its dangers (Silent Spring 1962). Thus,
for 40 years, chlordane was used as a termiticide and
insecticide inside homes, schools, and business without
even a shred of research into its toxicological effects
on humans and the environment.

Doctors and scientists who are knowledgeable on the chlordane
problem state millions of adults and children are becoming
sick by living in homes built before April, 1988 (the
period when chlordane, originally developed by Monsanto,
was allowed to be used). Chlordane contaminates the
air of over 30 million U.S. homes by diffusion through
concrete flooring - ceiling drywall - or outgassing from
previously treated indoor areas. Documented health problems
can include child cancers, neuroblastoma, leukemia, chronic
infections, bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, infertility,
neurological disorders, aggression and depression.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of obvious odor or easily
administered test, most occupants are unaware this pesticide
is in the indoor air they are breathing hour after hour.

In the case of arsenic, a poison used to commit murder
and suicide for centuries, often referred to as the "King
of Poisons," is also a so-called trade-secret ingredient
in many synthetic pesticides and becomes arsine gas when
it volatizes. Arsenic is a known human carcinogen more
deadly than the active ingredient Bifenthrin in the same
pesticide. Arsine gas poisoning results in a considerably
different syndrome from that caused by other forms of
arsenic. After inhalation, arsine rapidly binds to red
blood cells, producing irreversible cell membrane damage.
At low levels, arsine is a potent hemolysin, causing dose-dependent
intravascular hemolysis or red blood cell reduction. Hemolysis
could be consistent with chronic exposure to arsine gas.
At high levels, arsine produces direct multisystem cytotoxicity
destroying cells in much the same manner as snake venom
or the venom from the Brown Recluse spider destroys cells
or turns the cells necrotic.

When subjected to certain chemical reactions, solid arsenic
compounds can be turned into toxic gas (notable trimethyl
and dimethyl arsine). This was used to deadly affect during
World War I in the form of gas warfare.

The combined effects of arsine gas, volatizing pyrethroids,
and volatizing inorganic compounds of known toxicity are
unknown in the gaseous quantities that may be present
in your home. The constituent parts are known carcinogens
or nerve and cell toxins of little equal; volatilization
is inevitable, especially during winter months when all
windows and doors remain closed for longer periods and
heat is applied to the air and surfaces inside your home.

Your amount of exposure to pesticide gases include factors
such as the amount of pesticide applied, the chemical
composition of the pesticides, the frequency of application,
and environmental factors. Thus, repeated applications
of toxic synthetic pesticides by your existing pest control
company increases the amount of pesticide gases inside
your home according to all of the research.

The amount of pesticide gas you intake at a given moment
depends largely on your activities such as sleeping, walking,
and/or physical exertion.

Research indicates that U.S. residents spend the majority
of their day indoors, up to 90%, with the average between
60-90%, their exposure to pesticide gas increases with
longer durations in doors.

Inasmuch as it may be impossible to remove all toxic residue
from your property, we remove as much residue as possible
by decontaminating assessable areas that usually receive
applications of toxic poisons. This article represents
neither medical nor legal advice.